4 Captains getting dropped in the middle of a series

It has been seen very rarely in the history of cricket when the captain of the team is not a part of the playing XI, be it ‘dropped’ by management or the skipper deciding to ‘opt-out’. But the debate has sparked again after the India skipper Rohit Sharma opted to ‘sit out’ of India’s playing XI for the ongoing Sydney Test against Australia.

However, there have also been some skippers in the history of the game who were dropped from the team in the middle of a series. The reasons behind them getting dropped range from the injury issues to their bad run of form in that particular series.

With that said, here we’ll have a look at the 5 captains who got dropped from the team in the middle of a series.

Mike Denness – Against Australia (Ashes 1974)

Around 50 years ago during Ashes 1974, the first incident of a captain getting ‘dropped’ from the playing XI in the middle of a series took place. It was England skipper Mike Denness, who showed the way out of the final XI of England in the fourth Test of the series. John Edrich led the side as stand-in skipper. 

However, Denness made an amazing comeback in the fifth Test of the Ashes 1974, played in Adelaide, scoring a half-century. Later, in the sixth and last Test of the series, Denness scored an amazing century (181 runs) to answer the critics with his bat. 

Misbah-ul-Haq – Against Australia (2014)

In 2014, Pakistan under former skipper Misbah-ul-Haq were taking on Australia in the three-match ODI series. The men in green had already lost the first two matches as the Aussies took an unassailable lead of 2-0. Meanwhile, the skipper Misbah-ul-Haq also failed miserably with the bat. 

He fell on a golden duck in the first ODI followed by a dismal 15-run knock in the second ODI. Misbah himself opted to stay out of Pakistan’s playing XI for the third ODI. The veteran all-rounder Shahid Afridi led the side; however, it didn’t change the result for the men in green and they lost the last ODI by a narrow 1-run margin.

Also Read: Should Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retire from Tests after Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25?

Dinesh Chandimal – T20 World Cup 2014

Wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Chandimal was leading Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup 2014, played in Bangladesh. He struggled a lot with a poor run of form with the bat, alongside battling with some injury concerns. Chandimal didn’t score many runs except for a half-century in the tournament. 

Furthermore, he decided to keep himself out of the Islanders’ playing XI for their last three matches in the tournament. It also included the semi-final and final game of the tournament. In the absence of Chandimal in the playing XI, star pacer Lasith Malinga led the side and guided them to become the World T20 champions, beating India in the tournament’s summit clash.

Rohit Sharma - Against Australia in Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25

Star India batter and the current Test and ODI skipper, Rohit Sharma has become the latest entry into the list of the captains who had to stay out of the team’s playing XI in the middle of a series. He was not a part of India’s squad in the Perth Test due to family reasons. Later, the 37-year-old struggled with a horrific run of form with the bat in the next three games. 

The veteran batter could score only 31 runs in five innings of three matches, with a horrific average of 6.20 and a miserable strike rate of 28.18. Eventually, he took a call to ‘sit out’ of India’s playing XI for the fifth and last Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, in Sydney. Jasprit Bumrah was appointed as the stand-in skipper in Rohit Sharma's absence.